Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, June 22, 2012 Page: 10 of 80
eighty pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
texasnews
EMBRACING HISTORY | The Rev. Carol West hugs Chief Jeffrey Halstead at the premiere of 'Raid of the Rainbow Lounge' in March. (Chuck Dube/Dallas Voice)
Rainbow redemption
3 years after FW bar raid, the city's
response has become a model —
and an award-winning film is helping
to cement the saga's place in history
ANNAWAUGH I Staff Writer
waugh@dallasvoice.com
FORT WORTH — It's been three years since
Fort Worth police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission officers raided the Rainbow Lounge
on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion,
leaving disaster, pain, confusion and an infamous
date for LGBT North Texans behind.
But while the hurt and mistakes from that
nighf s events still linger with the dozens of people
present and with the communi ty as a whole, the
mprovements in communication and trust result-
ing from the raid shine brighter now than any neg-
ative spotlight that was cast on the city and police.
A'perfect storm'
In the early hours of June 28, 2009, officers
would decide to make Rainbow Lounge the third
stop during a night of bar inspections. The 40 min-
utes they spent in the bar led to six arrests and the
injury of a patron who was sent to the intensive
care unit for internal bleeding.
Todd Camp, founder of Fort Worth's Q Cinema,
was at the bar that night, the second weekend it
was open. Amid the protests and the LGBT com-
munity's outcries for an investigation and an-
swers, Camp said the event, the date of Stonewall
and the group of people in the bar combined to
create a "perfect storm" of activism — and later
change.
"I honestly think it was a long night and they'd
Anniversary screening
Raid of the Rainbow Lounge will screen on
the three-year anniversary Thursday, June 28,
at Magnolia Theater, 3699 McKinney Ave. The
screening is at 7:30 p.m. followed by a panel
discussion. Tickets are $12 and available at
RaidoftheRainbowLounge.com.
been other places where they'd had problems and
when they got to our bar they were mad and they
were ready for a fight even though there was no
reason to expect one," he said. "It was the wrong
time, it was obviously the wrong day, and they did
t in front of the wrong gays."
Three investigations into the brute force and
disregard for following policy resulted in the Fort
Worth police department revamping its inspection
REDEMPTION, Page 16
Hunt seeks
$1.1 million for
Cedar Springs
improvements
Upgrades could range from wider
sidewalks to gateway arches
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
City Councilwoman Angela Hunt has pro-
posed adding $1.1 million to the city's November
bond package for improvements to Cedar Springs
Road.
"There's a real need to make the area safer and
more: wiling for pedestrians," Hunt said.
Even with recent improvements to the street,
she said, pedestrians are taking their lives into
their hands — or feet, if you will — when they
cross the street.
The discussion with area merchants began after
four accidents involving pedestrians, including
two fatalities, occurred within two months last
year. Since then, new crosswalks and warning
lights have been installed. A traffic light at Knight
Street and Cedar Springs Road was scheduled to
be installed in June but that has been delayed until
at least September.
Hunt said her proposal is simi lar to the one she
added to the 2006 bond program for improve-
ments along Lower Greenville Avenue soon after
she came into office. She said at the time the
money was added, merchant and neighborhood
groups knew that something was needed but no
specific plan had been drawn.
"We want the community and business owners
to embrace whatever solution we come up with,"
she said. "We need everyone behind it."
She said the variety of improvements may in-
clude wider sidewalks, landscaping that has a
calming effect on traffic and benches to make the
street more pedestr ian friendly.
"When we put the money in the '06 bond pack-
age, we didn't know exactly where the money
would go," she said. "But we knew we needed to
make the area safer."
Lighting on side streets has been a priority, but
she said the funds she's requesting would only be
for improvements to Cedar Springs Road be-
tween Oak Lawn and Wycliff avenues. She said
she'll continue working with Oncor to increase
lighting on cross streets to improve safety for
those who park and live behind the entertainment
district.
"The Cedar Springs corridor is such an impor-
tant part of our city," she said. "This [the bond
■ CEDAR SPRINGS, Page 14
10 dallasvoice.com
06.22.12
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Wright, John. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, June 22, 2012, newspaper, June 22, 2012; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth308872/m1/10/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.